The defence secretary has insisted Donald Trump is dedicated to NATO and is correct to push different European nations to place extra funding into the safety alliance.
John Healey dismissed solutions the brand new US president will pull out of NATO, the navy alliance consisting of 30 European nations and the US and Canada, after earlier stories Mr Trump has mentioned doing so.
“They recognise the importance of the alliance, they recognise the importance of avoiding further conflict in Europe.
“However, I do say, and I’ve argued for a while, that the European nations in NATO must do extra of the heavy lifting.”
He added that Mr Trump “rightly pushed European nations to do more to fund NATO better”.
The defence secretary mentioned the US dedication to NATO remained by way of the earlier Trump administration and he has no purpose to suppose that help will discontinue throughout his second time period.
Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised NATO and complained concerning the US contributing an excessive amount of of its price range to the alliance whereas accusing European nations of spending too little on defence.
In the course of the election marketing campaign, he mentioned the US would solely assist defend NATO members from a future assault by Russia in the event that they met their spending obligations.
Members pledged to spend at the least 2% of GDP on defence by 2024, with 23 of the 32 nations anticipated to take action by the tip of the yr.
Poland, which shares a border with Russia, is the most important spender at 4.1% of GDP, Estonia is second with 3.4% and the US is third with 3.4%.
The UK comes ninth on the listing, reaching 2.3% of GDP below the earlier Conservative authorities.
Mr Healey mentioned his authorities has dedicated to spending 2.5% of GDP on defence however didn’t give a timeline for that purpose to be recognised.
He mentioned Labour was beginning to make good on their promise by rising defence spending by £3 billion subsequent yr.
“That’s a sign of a government that recognises the first duty of any government is to defend the country and keep our citizens safe,” he added.
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